


When I Needed You

by MadameStylinsonoftheNoueh



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Cancer, F/M, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Past Liam Payne/Louis Tomlinson, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-17
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-26 22:05:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/970788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameStylinsonoftheNoueh/pseuds/MadameStylinsonoftheNoueh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been sixteen years since they last saw each other. It wasn't a big fight, just a mutual agreement to stay apart for each other's good. So Liam doesn't understand why Louis is standing on his doorstep asking if they can talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own One Direction. (If I did, I obviously would be busy doing other things ;D) However, the other characters ARE mine so please, don't take them. Who does that kind of thing anyways?

Excluding the lack of people, the hospital seems relatively the same at the late hour. The white that seems to be everywhere, the sterile smell that lingers in the air, the steady beeping sound that emits from the heart monitors in each room. At the moment, that incessant beep is something to be thankful for.

"Are you sure?" Louis asked quietly, his eyes begging the nurse to give him better news.

The nurse nodded, wishing that she could tell him differently.

He took a deep breath and let it out as his gaze dropped to the floor, "Okay." Louis looked up at her, "Thank you." He turned around and entered the hospital room directly behind him.

"What was that about, Dad?", came a voice from the bed.

Louis sat in the chair by the bed and grabbed his son, Ethan's, hand. "Just a little thing with your meds, no biggie," he lied.

Ethan smiled up at him, "Okay." The fifteen year old yawned.

Louis chuckled, "Go to sleep, bud. You need your rest."

His son frowned. "Only if you promise to go home tonight. You need to sleep too."

The parent sighed, "Alright, you negotiator." He kissed Ethan on the forehead. "Sweet dreams. I'll see you tomorrow."

**

An hour later, Louis and his roommate, Harry, were cuddled up on the couch in their small apartment while sipping mugs of tea/

"Know what he told me today?" Louis asked as he snuggled closer to Harry.

"What?" Harry asked while he played with Louis' hair.

"He wants to meet his dad," the elder man sighed.

A pause. "Oh."

"Yeah."

Harry turned to get a better look at Louis' face, "You know what you have to do, right?"

"Yeah, I know."


	2. Awkward hello's

Liam entered his house to see his wife, Danielle, cooking dinner while their two children played on the floor.

"Hello, darling," Danielle said as he entered the kitchen.

"Hello." He grinned and gave her a kiss.

Their youngest, Thomas, ran up to greet his father. "Guess what we did in school today, Dad!"

Liam chuckled and leaned down slightly to meet the eight year old's eyes. "What did you do?"

"We played a game in Maths and I beat everyone else! I even got a sticker!" He puffed out his chest to proudly display his prize.

Just as Liam opened his mouth to respond, the doorbell rang. Seeing that Danielle was busy, Liam stood to his full height and strode to the front door to answer it.

The figure standing on the front step in the pouring rain was definitely the last person Liam expected to see.

"Louis?"

Louis smiled awkwardly, "Hey, Li. Is it, um, is it okay if I come in?" He glanced behind Liam and looked back into his eyes.

Liam jolted out of his daze. "Um, yeah, sure. Come in." He stepped back to allow his ex inside and closed the door behind him. Right when he was going to ask what Louis was doing at his house, his wife entered the room.

"Liam, who was at the-," she paused when she saw Louis. "Oh, hello!" Danielle looked to Liam, questioning him with her eyes.

"Danielle, this is Louis," he introduced. "Louis, this is my wife, Danielle."

"It's nice to meet you, Louis." Danielle smiled, "Are you a friend of Liam's?"

Louis cleared his throat, glancing at Liam. "In a way, I suppose? I was his boyfriend a long time ago."

Danielle's eyes widened slightly. She knew her husband was bisexual and had dated boys, but she had never met any of them. "Well, welcome to our home! We were just about to sit down for dinner, would you like to join us?"

Guilt washed over Louis, and it was evident on his face. "Oh no, I knew this was a bad time! I can just leave and come back later..." He turned to go.

Danielle stopped him before he could leave. "Oh, no darling! It's not a bad time at all, and we would love for you to stay for dinner."

Louis looked to Liam for confirmation, and he agreed with his wife. "It would be a pleasure."

"Alright then," he responded with a small smile.


	3. Why I'm here

Two hours later, after both children were tucked into bed and fast asleep, the three adults settled into the living room. After a length of awkward silence, Louis sighed.

"I can already see the question in your eyes, so I'm just gonna answer it. I'm here about my son."

Liam was baffled for a second, "What does your son have to do with us?"

The elder of the two men averted his gaze to the floor. "Because he's your son too," he replied quietly.

"W-What!?"

Louis took a deep breath and withdrew a bag from his jumper pocket. The bag contained a large stack of pictures. He handed it to the couple as he spoke, "A couple months after we broke up, I found out that I was capable of having children. They also told me that I was pregnant. I had no doubt in my mind that it was yours, but I wanted you to be able to move on with your life.

"Anyways, I kept it, and gave birth to our son Ethan. Those pictures are of him from the first ultrasound to his most recent birthday, just for some proof."

It took a while for the shock to wear off. Finally, Liam spoke, "Wow, Lou. Um, why are you just telling me now? Not that I'm upset, but you said that you didn't want to bother me."

Louis chuckled sadly, "That's kind of why I'm here." He sighed as tears began to fill his eyes. "Liam, Ethan has stage four cancer."

The couple inhaled sharply, and an awful feeling began in Liam's gut.

Louis continued, "They've only given him a few months left, at the most. And, well, the only thing he wants before he dies is to spend those months with both of his parents." 

He looked into Liam's eyes as a tear fell. "You really don't have to go if you don't want to, we both would completely understand, since you have your own family and all. It's just- I promised him I would try, 's all. That's why I'm here." He shrugged.

The information was a lot to take in, and Danielle noticed Liam was having a difficult time processing it all. She spoke up, "Would it be okay if we have a few minutes to talk about this?"

"Absolutely," Louis stood, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "I need to check up on Ethan anyways, so take as long as you need." He walked off to call his son.

Liam was staring at the latest picture of Ethan when Danielle spoke, "I think you should go."

Her husband's head shot up. "Y-you do?"

"Definitely." Noting his unsure look, she continued, "Liam, he's your son and he needs you. And, this is just a guess, but I think Louis is going to need you too."

"What do you mean?"

Danielle sighed, "I can't assume anything, but, Louis has probably been raising Ethan on his own for a long time, and he's about to lose him. It would be like us losing Thomas or Annabelle, but worse because Ethan might be all he has. He's going to need help getting through this, Liam."

Liam nodded, finally understanding. "Alright, I'll go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna admit now, I know almost nothing about cancer. So, whatever I come up with, please just bear with me? thanksxx


	4. Leaving

After the Paynes informed Louis that Liam would be going back with him, they invited him to stay the night, and he obliged.

The next morning, they got ready to leave. As he carried his bags outside, Liam took notice of Louis' vehicle.

"What happened to the Camry, Lou?" he asked as he eyed the rusty pickup truck sitting in the drive.

"Sold it. This is my roommate's truck, he let me borrow it to come see you."

Liam and his wife exchanged a look behind Louis' back. Things may have been worse than they originally thought.

Liam had discussed with Danielle the night before about how Louis' family'd had a lot less money than Liam's had had, and how Louis'd had to work three jobs after high school to help keep his family afloat when his dad left them. But even then, Louis had still been able to afford a trustworthy car.

Before he could get into the cab of the truck, Danielle pulled Louis into a hug. "Take good care of yourselves and your son, and if Liam's a dick, call me. I'll try to bring the kids up and visit sometime soon."

Louis chuckled, "Yes, ma'am."

Danielle smiled softly and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "I told you to call me Dani, sweetie."

The man just grinned, "Bye, Dani." He got into the truck as Liam turned to say goodbye to his wife.

"You called him 'sweetie'?"

She shrugged, "He's sweet and kind- and GAY. I'm somewhat surprised that you didn't stay with him."

Liam rubbed the back of his neck, "Honestly, I can't even remember what it was that broke us up-" He was cut off by the horn of the truck.

They turned to look at the man inside the vehicle. Louis opened the door and chuckled nervously, "Sorry, I bumped it! I swear!"

The couple laughed. "I guess I better get going, huh?" Liam asked.

His wife hummed, "Yeah, wouldn't want Lou to 'bump' the horn again." She kissed him gently and whispered, "Be safe, and have a good time with Ethan and Louis. I love you."

Liam kissed her back, "I love you too."

Danielle gently shoved him away, "Now go meet your son!"

Liam waved at her and climbed into the passenger side of the truck, and the two took off.


	5. Arrival

The ride to Louis' apartment was, for a lack of better words, awkward. The two tried to keep up a conversation, but there's only so much you can talk about with someone you haven't seen for sixteen years.

Still, Liam was not exactly relieved when they finally came into town. If things were awkward now, what would they be like around Ethan?

He was broken out of his thought by the sound of the door of the truck slamming as Louis got out. Liam looked up and realized that they had arrived. He quickly got out and grabbed his bags out of the back, catching up to Louis, who had been waiting for him at the door of the building.

"D'you want me to carry one of those?" Louis asked, eyeing Liam's heavy-looking bags.

"Um, sure." Liam handed off one of the bags.

The two men made their way up the stairs- they had no working elevator, Louis explained- to the third floor of the building. Louis stopped in front of the fifth door on the right, and inserted a key to unlock the door.

Once the door was open, Liam followed as Louis strolled inside.

"Hazza! I'm home!" Louis yelled into the small apartment. He huffed when no one immediately responded. "Where is he?!"

As the frustrated man disappeared deeper into the apartment, Liam took a look around. The apartment was, well, small. The kitchen and living room put together were still smaller than the size of Liam and Danielle's bedroom at home, not to mention the lack of a dining room.

As far as Liam could tell, it was relatively clean considering the fact that Louis lived there. He could still remember how much he had to clean up after the Doncaster lad when they were together.

Directly to the left of the entryway was the kitchen, complete with an older fridge and microwave sitting on the countertop. A row of cabinets hung above the seven foot long counter and sink. The black and white checked floor was lightly tinged yellow, but otherwise clean. 

Straight ahead from the entrance was the living area. A medium-sized television sat on top of a small table along the wall on the right side. To the left of the door, in the middle of the room, facing the telly, there was a slightly worn olive green couch with a blanket and a few items of clothing strewn over it.

Around the corner from the living room, to the right, was a darkened hallway that Louis had disappeared down.

Overall, the apartment was lit in a soft yellowish light.

Liam was somewhat shocked at the living situation. Was Louis really this poor? Didn't he have a roommate?

Liam was pulled out of his thoughts by Louis dragging a tall, curly-haired man by the arm into the entry where Liam still stood. The man chuckled as he allowed Louis to pull him as he pleased.

Louis huffed, and dropped his hand when they were in front of Liam. "Hazza, this is Liam," he gestured to Liam. "Liam, this is Harold." He said sassily, hand on his hip.

The man's nose crinkled at the name. "It's Harry," he said in a deep, slow voice. He held out his hand to Liam for a handshake. Liam gripped it tightly and shook it.

Louis beamed at the interaction. "Okay, now that introductions are over, I'm gonna shower and change so we can go see Ethan." He quickly took off down the hallway, leaving Liam and Harry alone.

Liam stood still as Harry sized him up. "So you're Ethan's dad? I can see the resemblance." 

Liam rubbed the back of his neck, "You know about that?"

Harry nodded, "Kinda had to, seeing as I let Lou and Ethan stay with me." He shrugged. "Doesn't really bother me."

The younger man noticed Liam fidgeting and sighed, "Oh my god, stop being so awkward! We are gonna be together for a while, might as well be friends."

Liam felt like an awkward brick was lifted off of his shoulders. He smiled a real smile for the first time since leaving his home.

Harry grinned a cheshire cat grin back, "That's better."

The two sat down on the couch and talked for a while, waiting for Louis to get ready. Once he caught his breath from laughing at a stupid story Harry had told about his old cat, Liam asked a question that had been on his mind since he arrived.

"So, Harry, are you Louis' boyfriend?"

The question seemed to take the man by surprise. "No," Harry replied quickly, "We're just friends."

Liam noticed the longing in Harry's eyes at the statement, but chose not to say anything seeing as he was still relatively new. He merely nodded in acknowledgement of it, noting the relief in Harry's features at his lack of questioning.

Not long after, Louis reappeared, dressed in a fresh pair of sweatpants and jumper. "Alright, let's go. See you in a bit, Haz."

Liam followed Louis out the door, leaving the curly-haired lad behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overuse of the word awkward?? I think yes!! O.o

**Author's Note:**

> This is most definitely not going to be consistently updated. If you want to see more works of mine, I'm @teddyluv72 on wattpad.


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